IISC Interview Experience-2012

Some of my blog visitors got in touch with during IIT/IISc admission process in this year- 2012 have shared their experiences to share here so that it helps the coming IIT/IISc aspirants. I am thankful to them and happy to share this valuable information on my blog.

Check out these conversation on Emails yourself.

1.   Chaitanya,

Hi Rekha,

I am Chaitanya from Bangalore. I happen to read your blog and just thought of getting some doubts cleared. I secured a GATE rank of 480 and a Gate score of 729 in the year 2012. What are my chances at IITs? Also I am interested in the field of communications and signal processing. How are these departments at IIT Kharagpur ? Thanks for taking your time to read my mail.

I got selected for admission to IISc in CEDT department. I have been short listed for IITK in RF and microwaves. Also in IITkgp for all branches for interview.  Also in IITB for Communications in RA category. I am 99% sure that i would be joining IISc. As  I had told you earlier i was originally interested in the field of signal processing. But, since i have got selected in IISc, i am having second thoughts. What would you have done?

I have decided to join IISc and I am more than happy to share my experience. Here it goes….

1. The written test was on April 14, 2012. I guess the total number of candidates who were shortlisted for written test could be around 600 to 700(because my rank was 480).So this is just an educated guess. The test comprised of 1mark(8), 2mark(8) and 3mark(8) questions(they were not objective kind). The questions included design of op-amp based circuits, digital circuits, mathematical fundamentals(limits, fourier series and stuff), questions based on dc motors, one question based on physics(F = ma principle), few questions on mechanics, one question on chemistry(galvanisation),etc. The duration of the test was around 1 hour 15 minutes.

2. The results of the test were announced the same day at 7pm. Totally 157 candidates were shortlisted for interviews. The interview was held over a span of 2 days for all the candidates. There was only one round of inteview. My interview was slated on April 16th 2.00 PM.

3. Many candidates were asked interview questions mainly based on their degree project. In my case, I had completed my Engineering in 2009 and then worked as a lecturer in a private institute for one and a half years. So, they asked me what were the courses that I taught while I was a lecturer. I had taught a course on Random Processes and Control systems. Therefore all the questions were based on these two courses that I had taught.

In random processes, question based on independence of events and a common problem in that area was asked. In control systems, questions were based on root locus, PI controller etc. The duration of the interview was 20 minutes. The results of the interview were announced by the end of April. Totally 19 candidates were selected for admission out of the 157 candidates who were shortlisted for interview.

4. Few tips that i would like to share:

i) Be confident about what your speaking. Well this confidence would only come from preparation. There is no point in preparing for an interview the day before the interview. So, concentrate on learning concepts while preparing for GATE and not just solving many many problems. In an interview your understanding of concepts will be tested.

ii) Many candidates with better rank(rank 150, 200 and so on) than me were not able to crack the interview. Also I must mention that I got the admission under the general merit category. So, one should not think that the interview is a mere formality and guys with better ranks only will be given admission finally. Even if you did not make it to the top in GATE, you can make up for it by giving your best in the interview (ofcourse first you have to be shortlisted).

iii) I have been a teacher for quite sometime(1.5 years). So i recommend those who are preparing for GATE to teach some of your juniors in your college or nearby your house about the concepts that you learnt. That will really help you in facing interviews.

iv) Also, in an interview even if you are not able to answer a question don’t bog down but show your keeness to learn by asking some questions and clarifications from the interviewer regarding the topic. Believe me, I asked them as many questions as they asked me just to have clarity about the question. Also, if you absolutely don’t have any idea regarding a question then you can say that you don’t know the answer.

Finally, I hope that everyone are reading this blog well before you started preparing for GATE rather than after writing GATE exam and preparing for interviews. I wish everyone the very best.

 2.       Sandesh

hi..

i have recently gone through your blog. it is quite informative.. my 2012
gate score is 561 and rank is 2714 in EC.i have done my btech and passing
year is 2011. i am working as a project engineer in iitbombay.. i want
to do mtech in electronic systems in iitbombay. so can you give me any
more tips for cracking iitb interview in EE dept..it will be helpful to
get a exact picture of the interview scenario.

thanking you..

with regards

sandeshpati
jr. project engineer(hardware)
iitBombay

i did attend a research associate interview in IISC . my final year

project is  ‘a pca based face recognition using matlab’. so they asked me

various questions in that.

they are

 

1. why it is called face recognition.. cant i take a image of a banana and

match it and call it banana recognition?

 

2. then they asked about 2-dim fourier transform and its application on

the image processing….. after all the discussion they asked me why we

usefourier transform here… fourier transform should be done in

frequency domain….. where in the 2-d image u find a frequency

parameter…. how do you physically realize application of fourier

transform in case of image processing..

 

3. then they told me to draw a non inverting amplifier of gain 10 using

opamp. i did draw  with a R1= 1 k and RF= 9 k … they they asked that why

did you choose the values … can i take 100k and 900k or 1M and 9M or 1E

or 9E ….. i know there is some restriction of loading… but how to

answer this question.

 

4. can you see the hole? if yes justify if no justify….

 

5. how to convert a analog to digital signal???? … when i told them abt

the sampling process they said no no not that what is the scheme to be

followed… so how this question should be answered…

 

and most importantly how to react when i dont know a answer but has a

slight hint of the answer..

what  areas i should prepare and which text to follow when they ask abt my

project…. mostly the ask advanced aspects of my project..

Me:

Ans1. It is as good as asking: how face recognition system is different from any othr recognition system.. U must knw this.. What key features and database you are using for recognition.. There are some assumptions about any new data u get for recognition  rite..!! to say ur project as face recognition and not as Banana recognition..These things. It’s all tech details on your project..Think it’s very easy to answer..But u need to take ur time and think positively..

Ans2.  Frequency in image says abt sharp edges in image.. If you filter image for low frequency components you get a image with edges somewhat blurred compared to original one..and High frequency image will have shrp edges high lighted in it.. Any text will give u this ans..this is importance of frequency domain for an image..

Ans.3:  Noise concern to use large value resistors..search ‘large’ in attached doc sloa082.

http://sound.westhost.com/dwopa.htm

Ans 4. :  I think this question can be answered by considering the angle of depression and  angle of elevation when we look inside the hole and then the ground level.  Basically ‘depth’ is the property of the hole needs to be proved to say there is a hole exists.

Ans 5.  May be you were expected to explain sampling frequency determination.  Even I am not able to find what was there expectation. But you would have asked them for clarity in question and to know what were they exactly expecting from you. Be free and confident to ask questions to have clarity on the questions in any interview.

Ans 6: I suggest the same as said by Chaitanya in the above tips. For that matter in any interview, Asking more questions and being interactive with interviewer shows how confident you are. Also here you need to be very careful in your tone ; it may sound over confident and dominating the interviewer , this may not be good for you. Be humble, show keenness to learn.. Accept if you don’t have any idea of the topic.

Ans6:  Be clear and good with the basic concepts on your project. Follow standard text books. Think more on practical applications  of the project. Discuss your project with some expert faculty in your college and with friends. Try to know the obvious questions on your project and have best answers . This comes only by practical thinking on the project.  Think if much more work can be done in the project and how can u make it better. What is challenging part in that.

Always project has broader spectrum to pose questions and will depend on the interviewer’s familiarity and experience with the project topic.  Be confident , think and answer.

Frm my frnd Amit More, IITkgp:

Ans1. I think it is called face recognition because we are trying to recognize input image (whichever it is, a banana or Human face) against database which is generated from FACIAL images, which makes it face recognition.

Ans2. Frequency in spatial domain for Images corresponds to signal which changes with particular period (inverse of frequency). Which means if my image shows frequency of 1 or 2 in its FT along say, horizontal dimension, means there is a signal (visual pattern in case of images) which shows 1 or 2 transition in its intensity along that dimension.

The edges present in the images correspond to some frequency component along perpendicular direction of edge in a frequency domain. In face recognition some key features of images (Face) are extracted & stored. I am not aware of Face recognition algorithm so cant tell why exactly FT is used in Face recognition, but FT will extract frequency from images which may give some info. abt pattern of image.

PCA is also a kind of transform which gives info abt pattern of image.

3.       Avinash

Hello Rekha,

 

I wanted to share with you the written  test and the interview process at Electronic systems engineering department at IISC.

There were analog as well as digital systems design questions:

1. Implement a NOT gate using a 4:1 MUX , in as many ways as possible?

2. If a multimeter is connected across a PN junction diode, how much voltage it will read and why?

3.There was a question on limits from Mathematics, lim x—3 {Sin(x-3)/(x-3)} = ?

4. Design an OpAmp circuit, which glows LED at a rate of no more than 20 volts/s.

* hint :this question is based upon slew rate of opamp, to be less than or equal to 20, make a non inverting amplifier , with (slew rate <= 20)

5.Anotheropamp related  design question:

Design a circuit, which has three LED’s( red ,green, yellow),

red LED glows when input>1volt

green LED glows when input> 2 volt.

yellow LED glows when input> 3 volt.

 

*hint– Make a clipper circuit having  three parallel branches, each branch containing an LED and voltage sources as follows:

Red Led should be reverse biased with 1V

green LED should be reverse biased with 2V

yellow LED should be reverse biased with 3V.

the whole above parallel arrangement is preceeded by a non invertingOPamp amplifier of gain unity( i.e just keep a voltage follower)

 

6. Question on 3-dimensional spherical body and we are required to draw projections on 2-d plane.( projections namely TOP, lateral, bottom surfaces)

 

well, I remember these questions correctly, I will update u , if I remember more.

The interview had the following questions:

1. What are the subjects are you comfortable with? my reply was Signal n systems, Analog circuit design, Semiconductor physics.

2. As light is a signal, can you write an equation for the light falling from the tubelight in this room and how many independent variables will the equation have.

3.  A question on Aliasing and how to prevent it?

4. Questions on your final year project, which will be brainstorming..

5. Questions on work experience in industry, the project which you did at JOB and its importance.

Summing, it comes 18-20 mins..

Happy to present you and to help you, help others preparing for GATE to enter temples of Learning(IIT/IISc) .

Best Regards,

Avinash Chander.

 

Many more will be coming up from other visitors after complete admission process. Hope it helps you.

All the very best.